No Distractions

My new productivity rules, effective as of this past Sunday:

1.) I check my email only three times per day.
2.) I do not login to Facebook before 7:00 PM.
3.) I do not watch YouTube videos before 7:00 PM.

It dawned on me last week how much I use these outlets as a procrastination tool. Whenever I would tire in the slightest of doing something productive, I would use these as a means to temporarily escape. Not anymore. It’s my hope that by working smarter, I can get my work done faster and proceed to doing something enjoyable guilt-free.

Withdrawal symptoms? You bet. It’s not that I crave the endless stream of information from others; it’s my escape whenever I’m stuck on something or just plain bored of doing it. Several times today I’ve caught myself opening a web browser and mindlessly clicking on the Facebook bookmark.

After reading a great biography about the life of Theodore Roosevelt, it left me amazed how much incredible stuff the guy did. In addition to having an absolutely insane amount of energy and drive, he would never squander time on anything remotely comparable to status updates and viral videos. Starting this week, I’m trying not to either. It may not be enough to make me an accomplished author and naturalist by the time I graduate from college, but it’s a start.